BALI ANNOUNCES IT WILL WITHDRAW ITS TROOPS FROM IRAQ

The islamofascists bombed Bali - and killed 25 people. As a result, Bali has annouced it will withdraw all their troops from Iraq.

Oooooooooooooooooops. They don't have troops in Iraq. Hmmm. Huh. Er... um, could it be the islamofascists have other aims, and are not merely attacking people in revenge for toppling Saddam?! Could it be that they MEAN what they say when they say - since 1998 - that they want to re-establish the Caliphate and will kill or convert anyone who gets in their way, and that they are only limited by their means and not by any conventions, and that they are more than willing to commit genocide and kill innocent bystanders!?

Yes.

MSM BIAS: KATRINA AND IRAQ

It's well documented that Katrina coverage SUCKED. BUT MORE THAN THAT: it always sucked to ONE SIDE: it was always anti-Bush (sometimes under the guise of being anti-FEMA or anti-Brown).

MEDIA BLOG at NRO - run by Steven Spruiell - posted this about HUGH HEWITT:

Here's the key question from ... [Hewitt's] interview with [New Orleans local TV newsman] Allen:

We had all the resources of the American media combined in New Orleans. Everything they had, they threw at it. With the help of locals like you and national networks, print, media, radio, everything, not one outlet could get inside the convention center or the Superdome to do accurate reporting. What's that tell us about the trustworthiness of American media, when it's far away from home in a war zone like Iraq? Isn't that in fact an obvious admission that not only can they not do the job in New Orleans, we can't expect them to do the job of accurate reporting in a war zone like Iraq?

ME: Well, the MSM DOES NOT DO INACCURATE because of incompetence. They misrepresent the truth because they go with whatever reinforces their story-template, which is primarily and predominantly anti-Bush. Any tidbit or rumor or photo or anything that is anti-Bush or can hurt Bush, they run with WITHOUT fact-checking/double-checking. IT'S NO PREMEDITATED; IT'S "UNMEDTATED." And they do so without one iddy-biddy teeny-weeny whit of care of what the repercussions of their biuased reporting might be - as in the case of the Abu Ghraib photos, and their demand that MORE Abu Ghriab photos be released. They do not care of they put our soldiers in danger or if they sow increased racism and class-warfare. As long as it "get's Bush" they run with it.

Why do they do this?SIMPLE: The vast majority of people working in the MSM are Left-wing scum. And THAT'S they are NOT to be trusted. We should no more trust so-called MSM news reports than we would "news releases" from Mugabe or Fidel or Kim Jong Il.

MORE BLATANT MSM BIAS: SHEEHAN VERSUS BENNETT

For MONTHS Sheehan has mouthing off - and posting - the most outrageous anti-American, anti-Semitic crap and none of it gets a mention in the MSM; all they do is recount her pathetic "bereaved-mom of soldier as dove" meme, ad nauseum.

But Bill Bennett says something controversial and the MSM is all over it as if he he'd endorsed what he was ACTUALLY condemning, and as if the statistics on black crime weren't what they have been for the last 40 years (when Moynihan first started taliking about the collpase of the black family structure and how that was probably reponsible for the disporportionate amount of poverty and criminality in the black community. Neither Moynihan of Bennett EVER asserted that this was genetically caused, both in fact have argued that it is sociological and related to unintended but perhaps unavoidable adverse side-effects of the welfare state).

Bill Cosby has said similar things, and while he was criticized for it he was not tarred and feathered in the MSM like Bennett. WHY? Becuase Bennett is a conservative GOP booster and a figure in talk-radio. And the MSM hates him for that.

YUP: This is a simple example of MSM bias: those who reinforce the meme's they like get preferential treatment; those who expose the falseness of their meme get tarred and feathered. They like to portray themselves as objective, but they are not. The MSM is merely the propaganda arm the the Left. Their declining ratings (and the demoicning fortunes of the Dems) and the burgeoning success of FOX and talk-radio - and the increasing fortunes of the GOP PROVE the American people know this very well - and it's why they keep turning off the MSM and voting GOP in ever increasing numbers.

I like what Mark Levin wrote in THE CORNER:

BENNETT [Mark R. Levin] - So, what do we have here? We have another attempt, by a Democrat front-group (funded largely by George Soros), to smear a thoroughly decent man who harbors no racial prejudice of any kind. We don't need to split hairs in defense of Bill Bennett. We don't need to accept the spin that's used as the basis for the smear by those who seek to destroy him. Nothing Bill Bennett said, when read in full, is racist. Now, the former lead researcher for this Democrat front-group, who was hired by Chuck Schumer to work on his Democrat campaign committee, is now under investigation for illegally securing the credit report of one of the highest ranking African-American public officials in the nation, Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele. The same media that regurgitates David Brock's poison barely noticed. Robert Byrd, who actually was an active racist, is still treated like some kind of wise man by the Democrats and the media. Jesse Jackson, whose anti-Semitic statements are well known, is called upon to pass judgment on individuals who have a far better character than he. Let's no cede the moral high ground to people who've never held it.

Indeed.

THE MYTH AND LIE OF A "BALANCE" ON THE SCOTUS

Now that Roberts is CJ of the SCOTUS, attention has turned to what will surely be a real fight - over who will replace Sandra Day O'Connor. O'Connor is seen by many as having been a "swing vote" on the Court, a Justice who maintained the "balance" of the Court. (Though this is a false notion: she voted as often with the minority of conservatives - as in KELO - as she did jhoin forces with the liberals on the Court.) But the very notions of "balance" and "swing vote" annoy the heck out of me.

Dr. Sanity attacks this notion of "balance" on the Supreme Court from one angle:

Democrat Entitlement

Nowhere is the Democrat's sense of entitlement more obvious than in the delusion, adopted because they are the minority party, that President Bush should appoint someone to the Supreme Court to keep it "ideologically balanced". They seem to believe that since Sandra Day O'Connor has been a swing voter on the court, that it is their right to demand someone similar from the President's next appointment.When did the Supreme Court of the United States become yet another entitlement program for the Democrats? Where is it written that the Supreme Court must be "ideologically balanced"? Who has ever claimed that the minority party has any rights (except the usual "advise and consent role).

She ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. But, I attack the notion of "balance on the Court" on a different basis: it's a PHONY concept which masks an otherwise BLATANT ideological bias to the Left.

(1) Why is it called "BALANCE" when the SCOTUS doesn't reflect the political feelings of most of Americans!? Most SCOTUS appointments in the last 35 years were made by conservative presidents, who were expecting that the persons they put on the court would be conservatives - only it didn't work out that way: Stevens; Kennedy; Souter and O'Connor - all appointed by GOP presidents - drifted AWAY from the things which led them to get the appointment and drifted toward the Left. This so-called "balance" was the result of Justices NOT ruling as the president or the Senate or electorate had a right to expect they would rule!

And (2), why is a 5-4 ruling which ALLOWS ABORTION any more balanced than a 5-4 ruling that says there is no federal right to an abortion!?

This seems to me to be MERELY A BIAS - and one you hear ALL DAY LONG in the MSM: they say there is "balance" in the SCOTUS as if after the next Justice is confirmed and IF this led to new 5-4 rulings which OVERTURNED older 5-4 rulings that this would be UNBALANCED!?

Sheesh.

This is as hypocritical as when Lefties argue - ON THE ONE HAND - FOR A LIVING CONSTITUTION, one that can be modified by looking at what foreign courts decide (!), and yet simultaneously argue - ON THE OTHER HAND - that THEIR FAVORITE RULINGS ARE SOMEHOW ETCHED IN STONE - AS IN ROE VS. WADE - which can never EVER be overturned!

Well I say: They can't have it both ways, (well, not an be rational - not their strong suit, ever!). They should just admit that they don't want the stuff they LIKE overturned,and won't vote for nominees who they think WILL overturn the stuff they like. That would be HONEST.

And they should just admit that the term "maintain balance on the Court" means letting them WIN 5-4 rulings (and over-rulings) - and guaranteeing that these rulings (and over-rulings) are written stone; whereas 5-4 rulings which are conservative or which overturn things the Left likes is bad and wrong and UNNACCEPTABLE to the point of demanding a FILIBUSTER.

Which is what I expect from the Lefties in the US Senate. And that the GOP will break them - by adjusting the rules - the Constitutional/"Nuclear" Option - and Bush will get his nominee confirmed and that the MSM will declare this is a defeat.

YEAH: another defeat for Bush - joining a long list of his other defeats: the Iraqi election and the Iraqi constitution and the Afghani election and constitution; and getting Syria out of Lebanon, and Putin out of Ukraine; getting Libya out of the WMD racket; getting North Korea to agree to stop their nuke programs; and passing the Education Bill, and the Medicare Drug Plan, and the Tax Cuts, and every other BIG legislative victory Bush and the GOP have had in the last 5 years!

Bush: what a loser! The Dems WISH they could lose like that!

SHOULD LOS ANGELES BE REBUILT?

There are horrific WILDFIRES in LA every autumn, it seems. And yet every year, people rebuild. ARE THEY NUTS!? Should the people of LA rebuild in a place they KNOW is DISASTER PRONE? Ditto SF and earthquakes. People should not rebuild wherever there's a threat of a natural disaster.

SARCASM OFF. Telling people not to rebuild in LA or SF is RIDICULOUS. Yet many MANY bloggers and others said the same about New Orleans.

Ridiculous. It'd be like NOT rebuilding on the WTC site; it'd be like admitting defeat.

ISRAEL-JIHADIST WAR CONTINUES TO HEAT UP: jihadists in West Bank call off truce

BBC:

An al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades leader says the Palestinian militant group will no longer respect a six-month truce after Israeli raids killed three militants. ... Israel has made more than 400 arrests in the West Bank since militants launched rocket attacks at the end of last week. ...Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has rejected suggestions that Israel could stage take more unilateral steps after the Gaza pullout. "There is only one plan and that is the roadmap," he told a Tel Aviv business conference, referring to the internationally-backed peace plan which has lain largely dormant since its inception in 2003. Key Sharon aides have been suggesting that Israel could pull back from parts of the West Bank and unilaterally set its border if negotiations with the Palestinians failed. Gaza plan architect Eival Giladi, Sharon adviser Eyal Arad and cabinet minister Tzahi Hanegbi have all spoken in such terms this week.

Because completion of the Security fence, and a unilateral withdrawal makes Israel SAFER and more defensible IT WILL HAPPEN. It will NOT happen as a result of negotiations because negotiations require that the other side be negotiable and be reliable to keep promises they make. The Arabs in Gaza and the West Bank are neither.

Therefore, expect Israel to unilaterally withdraw from PARTS of the West Bank and call off any and all future negotiations on any and all other outstanding matters, (such as "refugees" and the "final status" of Jerusalem). This will happen not later than next summer; it will happen much sooner if jihadists force Sharon to act more swiftly then he'd like. STAY TUNED...

THE RECURRING MYTH OF THE IMPENDING GOP BREAKUP

WASH POST: Troubled Year Gets Worse for the GOP ; GOP Ignores Lessons of Democrats' Past Mistakes; NYTIMES chimes in too - with an alarmist headline of their own.

This is merely WISHFUL THINKING on the part of the Left and the MSM they still dominate.

Every time there's ANY negative news, and a few moderate GOP Congressman express trepidations (you know, the USUAL SUSPECTS: DeWine/McCain/Hagel) the Left and the MSM they still dominate gleefully exclaim that Rove's "Grand Strategy" to create a generation of GOP control of DC has ended, prematurely. As if proclaiming: "THE DEMS SHALL RISE AGAIN!" And at the next election, too!

Yeah, right.

They said the same things during the Schiavo debate, and whenever there's a particularly bad day in Iraq, or when they discuss the immigration debate, or the social security debate. The Left and the MSM they still dominate were wrong then and their wrong now. There is no and will be no GOP breakup.

Here's what I wrote in MARCH:

Much hogwash has been written lately about the impending conservative crack-up. Glenn argued that the Schiavo case might lead to it; Powerline argues it would more likely be immigration. I SAY HOGWASH. The polls almost ALWAYS show Bush with about 43-53% approval on any SINGLE ISSUE - INCLUDING IRAQ. But these polls are very VERY misleading because they almost always ask about the single issue in a very general way, like: "Do you approve of the way Bush has handled .....BLANK."

Because Bush is a MODERATE, he almost ALWAYS gets a fair amount of disapproval from his far-right flank (perhaps as much as 5-10% of the public), and because the Left-wing of the Democrat Party thinks Bush is a hitleriansmirkingchimp, he almost always gets a non-hearing from another 5-10% of the public. Together, these two groups INFLATE the anti-Bush number by at least 10%. That's why Bush won the election by 9 million votes and the MSM was shocked - because nearly all the polls before the election failed to depict the true overall sentiment of the public. Those critical of Bush from his right flank will NEVER vote Democrat, and they will NEVER cause a crack-up of the GOP.

SO BUSH'S NUMBERS IN THESE SINGLE-ISSUE POLLS ARE ALMOST ALWAYS MUCH LOWER THAN HIS NUMBERS TRULY ARE IN A CRUNCH, or in a head-to-head race with anyone else.

FOR EXAMPLE: Polls show that GENERAL disapproval on Iraq has run as high as 65% recently, but that disapproval total INCLUDES many people who think that Bush has been too weak (folks more "HAWKISH" than Bush), as well people who think Bush is too bellicose and unilateral, (and/or alos includes folks who think we have too few troops there, and folks who think they should all come home immediately).

Likewise, disapproval on how Bush is handling Social Security also is over 50%, but certainly includes folks like me who think that FDR's welfare plan for eldsters is nothing more than a Ponzi Scheme and should be entirely trashed. DITTO IMMIGRATION: many think he is too soft on illegals and porous borders, others think he is too tough.

The more Right-sided critics of Bush inflate the anti-Bush numbers and make Bush seem less popular than he really is because a politican has to be judged in comparison (or against) another politician. That's why/how so MANY pundits MISREAD the polls - and always ascribe greater weakness in Bush than is truly warranted by the polls. (THIS IS WHY THEY ALWAYS MISUNDERESTIMATE HIM!)

SO: many see Bush polling badly - on particular day and on a particular issue - and then presume that this issue will lead to a crack-up of the GOP conservative hold. They see a weak politician sitting astride a teeter-totter when in fact Bush is a an "artisan of the possible" with a truly deep and simple commitment to basic universal values. In the crunch, we all know which side of an issue Bush will come down on: the values side. The CONSERVATIVE values side. And he did this in 2004 and won BIGTIME - carrying larger majorities in both bodies of Congress! And that's why the conservative movement won't EVER break-up over any one of these single issues as long as Bush is president.

The next GOP presidential candidate will have to be equally adept at PLAYING POKER as Bush has been, if he OR SHE is going to be a winner, and if conservatism is going to maintain its lead. In other words: it has more to do with how effectively the leader of the GOP handles the breadth of debate within the GOP, than any debate over any single issue.

WHY AM I SO SURE!? Two reasons: (1) Because the Left is bereft of ANY new meaningful proactive polices; the Left is reactionary. Given the choice between the NEW GOP and the Dems, most middle-of-the-roaders will choose the GOP. And (2), because the Democrat Party is moving evermore LEFTWARD (even as some of its SHREWDER pol's try to head to the middle - like Hillary and Richardson and Biden). As a result, the standard bearers of the DNC in 2008 will have a MUCH GREATER PROBLEM winning the nomination and holding their party together (as they parade around Red America for votes), than the GOP will in their continued invasion of Blue America; (REMEMBER: Bush was closer in more Blue states, than Kerry was in Red states; Bush did better in Massachusetts than Gore!).

BOTTOM-LINE: The GOP is the BIG TENT PARTY now; therefore there's going to be more intra-party debate in the GOP than in the Democrat Party. DO NOT CONFUSE THAT FOR FAULT-LINES! It is vitality, not morbidity! And let's face it: listening to Rice and Schwarzeneggar and Pawlenty and Santorum debate each other is ALWAYS GOING TO BE A LOT more interesting than listening to Sharpton and Kucinich and Kerry debate Hillary!

BESTY more or less agrees.

DELAY INDICTED

Delay was indicted in TRAVIS County Texas. For conspriacy.

This is the same county that the fake BUSH TANG documents came from. (More HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE.)

COINCIDENCE!? Hardly.

The Dem Travis county DA is a partisan hack, and the trumped up indictment (which took forever to arm-twist out of the Grand Jury - a normally pliable bunch - even though it is for conspiracy, which is well-known to be a charge of last resort becasue it is so easy to indict for) a WILD abuse of power.

This indictment is an outrageous partisan attack which is nothing more than an outrageous ABUSE OF POWER by the Democrat Travis Couty DA!

Unable to WIN ELECTIONS against the GOP, or to stop Bush's legislative agenda - (brilliantly sheparded through Congress by Delay), the immoral Leftists have reverted to form: abusing the coercive power of the state to attack popularly elected officials. OR SHOULD I SAY ABUSING THE POWER OF THE COURTS! The courts are - as we all know - the last refuge of the Left; it's the only place left they control - because it is NOT directly connected to the electorate - THE PEOPLE!

The Democrat Party - under the control of the immoral Left and the BDS afflicted - has no values, no policies, no popular mandate, and no shame.

The truth will come out, and when it does, it will be another nail in the coffin of the Left. Thank God. And the sooner the better. (More here.)

IDF CONTINUES ATTACKS ON GAZA; CUTS POWER TO GAZA CITY

BBC: Israeli air strikes have cut off electricity in most of Gaza City. The attacks come amid a continuing but sporadic exchange of fire between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip. The latest violence erupted despite the militant group Islamic Jihad joining Hamas in saying it would observe a truce if Israel stopped the attacks. During the day, Hamas released a video of an Israeli who was kidnapped last week [from Jerusalem] and later found dead. Businessman Sasson Nouriel was shown sitting blindfolded under the green banner of Hamas.

As well as the air strikes, the Israeli army also ordered artillery to fire on northern Gaza. And in a pre-dawn operation, Israeli troops raided offices belonging to the Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant groups in the West Bank.

This is what happens when Abbas refuses to clean up his OWN house: the IDF has to do it for him.

KARL ROVE CAUSED HURRICANES

The two worstest hurricanes in a long long LONG time were named Katrina and Rita. INITIALS: "K" and "R." Which just happen to be the initials of evilsmirkingchimp BusHitler's puppet master, KKKarl Rove. A COINCIDENCE? Need more proof? What are the odds that hurricanes initialed L-Q would NOT be important or deadly? Far-fetched satire? Not for people who can believe that the Bush Crime family was behind 9/11 - as MANY on the loony Left do believe - many of them, in fact, were marching in DC this weekend with posters that said just that! THE FACT THAT SO MANY LEFTISTS DO BELIEVE IN NUTTY THEORIES LIKE THIS (or that Rove and Bush invaded Iraq just so that they could win the 2002 mid-term elections, or just for the oil, and so on) ISN'T SURPRISING: Leftism is an utterly discredited and irrational and dysfunctional ideology which has failed everywhere and everytime it has ever been put into practice. People who still promote LEFTISM are NUTS.

THE BEST WAY TO END FEDERAL PORK: THE LINE ITEM VETO

AND TWO SENATORS ARE GOING TO INTRODUCE A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT SUPPORTING JUST THAT - Senators Talent and Allen, both of the GOP; (hat tip Ponnuru at NRO's THE CORNER). RIGHT ON!

UPDATE 9/27 -THE CORNER:

TALENT WALKS THE LINE [Ramesh Ponnuru]
I just spoke to Senator Jim Talent (R., Mo.) about the constitutional amendment that Sen. George Allen (R., Va.) and he have introduced to create a line-item veto.“This kind of structural change could make a real difference,” he says. He concedes that empowering the executive could, on occasion, work to increase spending: A liberal president could get congressmen to vote for a new entitlement by threatening to zero out projects in their districts. But he thinks that the net effect would be to cut spending, as it has been in states with the line-item veto.Talent has concluded that “[t]he nature of the legislative process is that legislatures are going to spend money on low-priority items, and the way to avoid that is to empower the executive, who is going to have different incentives and priorities.”But if the president has been unwilling to exercise his existing constitutional powers, such as the veto, to cut spending, why would granting him new powers make any difference? “One of the reasons he doesn’t use [the veto] is [that] it’s been so diluted. The approp[riation]s bills are so big now that he’s behind the eight-ball. If he wants certain appropriations, he can’t veto the others.” He says that a statutory change would have been preferable, since it would be easy to fix imperfections. But the Supreme Court, by holding the line-item veto unconstitutional, foreclosed that option. He’s bullish on his prospects. Two-thirds of Congress voted for the line-item veto statute in 1996. The question, he says, is: “Are we serious about reducing wasteful spending?” All of the congressmen, of both parties, “who have been wringing their hands about spending will have an opportunity to do something about it.”

KATRINA AND RITA PROVE OFF-SHORE OIL-DRILLING IS CLEAN AND SAFE

There were NO MAJOR oil spills as a result of platforms being hit by Category 5 winds. ZERO. Therefore, the enviro-nuts - who have been preventing the expansion of off-shore oil-drilling in the Gulf, (mostly off the coast of Florida) - should just SHUT UP, SPLIT and take their alarmist falsehoods with them!

ALSO: there were NO enviromental disasters as a result of any REFINERIES being hit by the Category 5 storms. Therefore, we should build more refineries on the Gulf Coast (and elsewhere).

If we had more oil-platforms in the Gulf, them we'd have MORE OIL.

If we had more refinieries then we'd have more gasoline.

AND PRICES WOULD COME DOWN.

High energy prices most adversely effect the poor. If Democrats and Lefties REALLY want to help the poor, then they'd PUSH for more off-shore oil-drilling in the Gulf and more refineries everywhere.

I believe that the Left will never support more drilling or more refineries in the USA because the Left's IRRATIONAL belief in the possibility of the existence of a "pristine environment" trumps their PHONY advocacy for the poor. ONLY if they come out for more off-shore oil-drilling and more refineries can they can prove me wrong.

BTW: Jeb Bush ought to show some courage and stop preventing more drilling off the coast of Florida. There are HUGE oil deposits there, and the USA needs them. Jeb Bush has been playing state-politics with this issue - he needs the votes of people who THINK that off-shore oil-drilling is unsafe (and is therefore a threat to Florida's tourist industry -- because they feel that it will lead to oil-spills which would damage their beaches.) Katrina and Rita PROVE this is an unfounded and irrational fear.

SO LET'S INCREASE GULF DRILLING NOW!

LEFTIST DEMAGOGUE SCHRODER BLINKS

PENINSULA/"Reuters":

For the first time since the election that gave neither side a clear majority, Schroeder appeared to shift away from his demand that a grand coalition of the two main parties was only possible under his leadership by saying he wanted the two rivals to join forces for the good of Germany, political analysts said. “I’m in favour of the two main parties coming together because that is my interpretation of what the voters want,” Schroeder told German television, indicating flexibility. But he added his party, which in theory has other coalition options, was not ready to back down in negotiations with the CDU. Schroeder’s comments which appeared to go in both directions offer little hope for an imminent deal but political analysts said he was sending a signal to Germans he could be ready to compromise after last week’s outcome.

He who blinks first... LOSES! Which means, the next stop for the anti-American demagogic socialist is... OBLIVION. Good Riddance! More here.

ASSAD'S DESPERATION SHOWING - and it kills...

UK GUARDIAN:

A prominent Lebanese journalist was seriously injured last night after a bomb exploded in her car in the latest attack apparently targeting critics of Syria. May Chidiac, an anchorwoman with the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation, suffered serious wounds to her arms and legs and is likely to have at least one of her limbs amputated. Last night the television station said she was in a critical condition. Footage showed her lying on a trolley as she was rushed through a hospital with dozens of doctors around her. The attack on Ms Chidiac, a Christian, is the latest in a series of explosions in recent months that have targeted politicians and journalists who have spoken of their criticisms of the Syrian regime, which has long dominated Lebanon and treated it as a client state. In June a similar car bomb killed Samir Kassir, a respected journalist who wrote a column in the An Nahar newspaper. In the days before he was killed he had written an article critical of the Syrian regime. Other bombs have killed or injured politicians but there have been no arrests. Syria denies any involvement.

If things go according to plan, the murderous baathist and genocidal terrorist abettor Bashar Assad will be overthrown in November, and he will end up like Mussolini and Ceausescu: on the end of a rope - after having been shot. He won't be alone, either! GOOD RIDDANCE! (More HERE.)

HOORAY FOR POLAND! Commie doves defeated by pro-American, freemarket, hawks

Another BIG defeat for the Left! And this came in despite of the fact that the Left was anti-Iraq War. I guess the Poles - like the Aussies and the Brits and the Germans and the Japanese - aren't as anti-American and anti-Iraq War or as pro-Big Giovernment as the Leftists who dominate the worldwide MSM would like the public to believe. BTW: of the major allies of Bush, ONLY Spain elected a socialist against the Iraq War and that ONLY came after the Spaniards cowered in fear and caved into al Qaeda as a direct result of the Atocha boimbings. As the poet once said: "The SHAME in Spain falls mostly on the INSANE" - (the Loony Left that is!). (More HERE.)

THE VIETNAM WAR WAS A COLOSSAL MISTAKE - MADE BY THE VIETNAMESE SOCIALISTS

Vietnam suffered about 2-4 MILLION casualties inthe Vietnam War. They LOST nearly every battle, INLCUDING the Tet Offensive. Their only successful strategy was getting the Left to get the American public to abandon their ally - the emerging democracy in the south - by withdrawing the US troops and ending financial and military aid to the SVG. On this front - and only on this front - they succeeded, in LARGE measure due to TRAITOROUS activities by people like John Forbes Kerry. The Vietcong generals have ADMITTED this fact; (Google General Giap).

US troop level was only about 69,000 in 1971, and only 50,000 troops in 1973, and by 1975 and the SVA was ALONE; (in fact, US TROOPS HAD LEFT ENTIRELY BY MARCH 29, 1973). Yet, the SVG was able to hold off the Vietcong with only American advice and some air support.

BUT IN 1975, the DOVE-DEMOCRATS who controlled Congress cut off financial support for the SVG, and they fell. This led DIRECTLY to" 2 million boat people fleeing Vietcong totalitarianism, (with 500,000 perishing in boats along the way!); 1 MILLION in "re-education camps" inside Vietnam; the fall of Cambodia to socialists who MURDERED 3.5 MILLION of their own; AND IT LED TO THE VIETNAMESE PEOPLE - 65 MILLION OF'EM - living under tyranny for 30 years!

But regardless of how they got the Congress to abandon a U.S. ally and emerging democracy, the Vietnamese socialists MUST NOW ADMIT THAT THEIR WAR AGAINST THE USA WAS A COLOSSAL, IF NOT TOTAL, WASTE.

Why? Because for the last decade all the Vietnamese commies have done is BEG to get American DOLLAR$$$ and American CAPITALISTS and American TOURISTS and AMERICAN BANKERS and AMERICAN FACTORIES into Vietnam!!!!!!! (See here and here and here and here.) Sheesh. If they had just surrendered in 1965, then they'd have had all this American investment & aid FOR THE LAST 40 YEARS!!!!!!! And they'd probably be richer now than South Korea, instead of being nearly as impoverished and backward and as "UN-FREE" as North Korea! Sheesh.

YUP: THAT PROVES THAT Ho Chi Minh - and the socialists who followed him - WASTED THE LIVES OF MILLIONS OF THEIR FELLOW COUNTRYMEN!

Why do I blog this NOW?! For two reasons. (1) Leftists today still think that the anti-Vietnam War movement was their greatest success - (or at worst tied with Watergate). In fact, it was the lowest moment in our nation's history. (2) Leftists persist in trying to get the rest of the public to see the Iraq War as "Vietnam Redux" - as if our involvement in Vietnam was bad, and our involvement in Iraq is bad. But the fact is, the ONLY parallel is that in BOTH wars the Left allies itself to tryanny and against democracy - and tries to get the USA government to abandon an emerging democracy.

THE LEFT WAS WRONG THEN, AND IT IS WRONG NOW. (And I was part of the anti-war Left, then - so I KNOW!)

There's value in making the comparison on one other level, too: just as Ho Chi Minh wasted the lives of Vietnamese by ordering them to resist democratization and capitalism and free markets, so too do OBL and Zarqawi waste the lives of their adherents. Muslims all over the world shoud embrace democracy.

"WHY?" the Left asks; "ISN'T THIS MERELY 'CULTURAL HEGEMONY?!' WHO ARE WE TO 'IMPOSE OUR VALUES' ON ANYONE ELSE?!"

The answer is simple: Freedom is good for EVERYONE because it is NATURAL TO EVERYONE, for ALL humans, EVERYWHERE - just like FDR said in his FOUR FREEDOMS speech. Democracy is concomitant with freedom because democracy is the only way for free individuals to form a consensual government. And freedom and democracy are better for all people in all cultures and all societies because increasing prosperity enhances the quality of life for everyone, and prosperity is a by-product of liberty.

IN OTHER WORDS: POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

ISRAEL RETALIATES WITH AIRSTRIKES AGAINST GAZA: HAS THE WAR AGAINST HAMAS BEGUN?

UPDATED -- SCROLL DOWN --

Perhaps I should rephrase the question: has another Arab-Israeli War just begun? Here's why I ask:

BBC [I have taken the liberty to "rearrange" the sequence of sentences in the BBC report so that it makes sense; all the sentences are verbatim.]:

... after more than 21 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip, injuring five Israelis in Sderot, Israeli planes have carried out an air strike on the northern Gaza Strip - the first such raid since its military withdrawal earlier this month. Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz had WARNED the Arabs that Israel would repond firmly to any attacks coming from Gaza. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for firing 10 home-made rockets into Israel on Friday, following the killing of three of its leaders by Israeli troops in Tulkarm. Israel said the militants were killed after opening fire on troops who were trying to arrest them.

On Friday evening an explosion at a rally held by the Palestinian militants of Hamas left 15 dead. The ruling Palestinian Fatah faction said it held Hamas responsible for the explosion at Friday's rally, when a truck carrying gunmen and home-made weapons blew up.

The Israeli military said its air strike was aimed at a Hamas weapons warehouse in the Jabaliya refugee camp, where Friday's rally was held. Two more missiles were fired at targets in Gaza City.

IMHO: this is either the opening round of the next BIG ARAB-ISRAELI WAR, or the beginning of the Gazan Civil War, (if Abbas tries to assert his legitimate control over Gaza - in which case he will get help from the USA and Israel - and he will win).

To become a big Arab-Israeli War a few other things would have to happen:

(1) Assad would have to try to take advantage of stepped up hostilities between Gaza and Israel, and use THAT as a pretext to attack Israel in a cynical attempt to strengthen his precarious hold over Syria and perhaps to regain control over Lebanon. Assad would claim to be coming to the aid of the Gazans.

(2) Hiz b'Allah would have to step up its attacks against Israel from southern Lebanon into a full-fledged offensive. They'd use Gaza and the Shebaa Farms as a pretext (and also they're newly re-motivated by the belief that the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza was FORCED by Hamas and terror).

(3) Zarqawi would merel yhave to step up attacks against King Abdullah II of Jordan to create a third front in the ARab-Isrzaeli War, (and a fourth in the overall GWOT - if you include Gaza, Shebaa farms, and the Sunni Traingle; it's the "FIFTH FRONT" if you include eastern Afghanistan; sixth if you inlcude the Moro islands; seventh if you include Kashmir - AND SO ON; IOW: JIHAD IS A GLOBAL WAR).

Right now, the odds of another Arab-Israeli War are as least as good as the odds of a Gazan Civil War. The odds that peace will break out are quite bad.

Neither a Arab-Israeli War or a Gazan Civil War is a rational response to the very good possibilites which have recently opened up (because of Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon and Egypt's gradual democratization, and Libya's defanging, and Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon), but the region - outside of Israel (and sometimes Egypt and Jordan) is NOT known for its reasonableness. Which is the chief reason why I feel that an Arab-Israeli War is a bit more likely: Assad (whose military is NO MATCH for the IDF) is probaby desperate enough to risk everything, at this point - I mean he's almost got nothing to lose.(And the closer we get to 10/25 - when the UN report on the assassination of Hariri is due - and it is likely to directly implicate Assad - the greater the likelihood Assad will do something desperate.) And HAMAS and Hiz b'Allah and Zarqawi are wacky jihadofascists who CANNOT be relied upon to do ANYTHING rational - so we must EXPECT them to WANT an all out war against Israel regardless of the risks. ON TOP OF THIS: the remnants of Arafat's legions of jihadoterrorists in the West Bank may try to start Intifada #3 (after all, Intifada #2 began soon after Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon).

So, STAY TUNED... (MORE HERE.)

UPDATE: AP : "Israel Vows 'Crushing' Response to Attacks"

- IDF MASSES ON GAZAN BORDER - (hat-tip JIHAD WATCH):

Israel ordered ground forces to the Gaza border Saturday and threatened a "crushing" response after Israeli towns were hit by the first major Hamas rocket barrage from the coastal territory since Israel's pullout two weeks earlier. Israel also resumed airstrikes against Hamas targets, hitting several suspected weapons workshops, and imposed a blanket closure that bars all Palestinians from its territory. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called his Security Cabinet for a meeting later Saturday to approve the military's response..."

THINGS ARE HEATING UP, FAST!

UPDATE #2: AFP: "Hamas Says Strike at “Israel’s Heart” Possible" - Gaza. Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri said it was possible that the group might strike “at the heart of Israel” in retaliation for the Israeli air strikes today, AFP reported. “It’s a very dangerous escalation of tension on the part of the enemy”, al-Masri said and added that the Israeli attacks “will not stop the resistance”, which includes even a strike “at the heart of the Zionist enemy”.

STAY TUNED... (MORE HERE.)

UPDATE #3: Syrian based PFLP declares truce null & void, and urges Palestinians to rise up... that's an intifada, folks...

UPDATE #4: ABCNews reports that the emergency session of the Israeli cabinet approved a return to the "targeted assassination" policy - which had been suspended to help Abbas...

UPDATE #5: IDF SEALS BOTH GAZA AND WEST BANK... this is a prerequisite for military operations in both territories, and of course to prevent any infiltrations of jihadomaniacal genocidal terrorists from the territories into Israel.

Therefore, I expect a major terrorist attack by the jihadists against a settlement in the West bank...

UPDATE #6: BBC: Saturday/ Sunday: Israel launches more overnight air strikes and arrests more than 200 Palestinians in West Bank -- The Israeli army said those arrested in the West Bank included activists from both Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Hamas said Hassan Yousef, its leader in the West Bank, was among them.

UPDATE #7: GOOGLE NEWS - [they're related stories]:

Israel Kills Militant Chief in Offensive: Guardian Unlimited, UK - 1 hour ago. By LARA SUKHTIAN. GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Israel pressed forward with a broad offensive against Islamic militants on Sunday, killing ...
Hamas calls halt to attacks: Japan Today, Japan - 54 minutes ago. GAZA CITY — The Palestinian militant group Hamas on Sunday announced a halt to Gaza-based attacks on Israel, even as two Islamic Jihad militants were killed ...

Er um... ISRAEL whacks THE EVIL-DOERS AND THEY CAVE - (calling an end to their attacks)! FUNNY HOW THAT WORKS! I think we need more of that! EVERYWHERE! (More HERE and HERE.)